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Peter Barnes
"One day I believe he will either blow himself up, or everyone else." - Aleksei Katanov History Born in 1962, Peter 'Rook' Barnes was raised in a working-class family in the Republic of Ireland. Showing a rather angry and violent disposition from an early age getting into fights at school and with other boys around his area, he was regularly beaten and treated strictly and harshly by his emotionally detached parents. This resentment and anger toward them, particularly his father, would serve as a catalyst to a much more hateful and violent nature that would surface later on in his life. Growing up during the time of 'The Troubles' in Northern Ireland and being raised as a Catholic along with a staunch believer of its doctrines (as he loosely interpreted them), Peter decided that he wanted to help in what he saw as the Liberation of his Northern brethren from the Unionist Protestants that considered themselves part of Great Britain. As the conflict had become more ethnically and sectarianally charged, so did his attitude, and by the time he had turned 19, Peter was friends with many 'freedom fighters' in the Northern Lands, eventually joining up with the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), a paramilitary catholic group dedicated to founding an independent and whole Ireland as a single Republic. Barnes took part in various terrorist activities and acts of guerilla warfare - multiple times he would get into firefights and skirmishes with the British Army, Royal Irish Rangers or other paramilitary groups on the opposite side of the conflict such as the Ulster Defense Force (UDF). However, he created tension with his superiors due to regular trips back down south to visit his sweetheart, a girl named Sophie that he had known since he was young. His ability kept such concerns in check, as he would always return to the conflicts and became one of the group's most capable assets, being sent on solo missions to plant explosives and bombs or carry out hits and assassinations, once knocking on an RIR officer's door before shooting him dead as he answered. However, he became embittered with the conflict as time wore on into the mid-1980s, and his visits to Sophie were becoming so regular that his superiors demanded he stop seeing her altogether. Rather than comply with their desires, Barnes simply left there and then, returning back home to Southern Ireland. Discovering that he had little qualifications or skills to fund himself and his now-fiancee, Barnes opted for an unusual career choice as he signed up with an 'international security company' known as Obelisk - a legitimate front for a mercenary organization. Barnes was accepted despite having little formal training compared to most of the veterans that Obelisk boasted thanks to his outright ability and unusual natural resilience. He was quickly pegged as an explosives expert and was trained in demolitions, EOD operations and Combat Engineer courses before being granted the rank of Specialist and being placed into Orion Company's Echo Squad. He found the work enjoyable, regular combat being an outlet for his violent temper as most of his wages went home to Sophie. He was brought to Africa with the rest of the Company and fought in various minor conflicts across the continent, finding some of the actions of his fellows rather distasteful when it cames to non-combatants, though he could do little to really effect such actions on a large scale. He and the rest of Orion stood out to the leader of Obelisk when they held a fortress for 260 days despite repeated assaults and casualties taking half of them. After their actions in Africa, Barnes was moved with Orion Company to the United States, a new location for the Ireland native. They were given extra biohazard and chemical weapons training as well as how to handle such substances as they were to be prepared for dealing with a city in the Mid-west known as Beauty Falls that had been overrun with a dangerous disease. The United States Government, wanting no part of it, had hired Obelisk to deal with it. Barnes and the rest of Orion Company arrived in Beauty Falls not long after, dropping off in various zones around the region. Finding that the virus mutated humans into 'zombified' creatures that could vary in abilitiy and shape, the unprepared military force quickly began to lose their footing. Their Captain was killed and chain of command broke down as officers and various groups were picked apart - Barnes was the only survivor of Echo Squadron, and survived in the sewers below, warding off sea creature-like mutants and parasitic plant life that had thrived below. He received a radio message of rendezvous near the centre of the city. Meeting up with the rest of the surviving Orion personnel, they were only 5 in number. They, along with the support sniper who was dropped in at a later point and also operating within city limits were dubbed 'Orion Squad' by command, and told to retrieve willing survivors for testing and avoid infection at all costs. Surviving for a number of days and often having disagreements over varying subjects due to the squad's haphazard make up and odd, conflcting personalities, they displayed unusual synergy in combat. Though seeming insubordinate at times otherwise, Barnes followed the direction of Sergeant Shiver to the letter when in dangerous situations, seeming to understand her point most of the time and agree with what she was going for. After surviving for an unspecified amount of time, the 'Orion Squad' remnants were retrieved and told they would be staying together as a unit; they had thoroughly impressed Obelisk's leader, and were now considered the premier Special Operations unit of the company. Informed that they would later meet the leader of Obelisk in person, Barnes and the rest of Orion Squad continued their duties with surprising efficiency. Abilities * Peak Human Condition: '''Through a combination of rigorous and intense exercise regimens as well as his metahuman genetic benefit. * '''Hand to Hand Combat: Though having very little formal training, Barnes has shown an incredible aptitude in street fighting as well as enhanced strength and reflexes, shown to be able to take down trained military personnel. * '''Explosives Specialist: '''Trained and experienced with explosives both through his time with the IRA and Obelisk, Barnes is an expert in all manner of bombs and explosives from makeshift car bombs to military grade thermite. * '''Expert Marksman: '''He is an exceptional shot with quick reflexes, shown to be able to out-shoot a member of the elite Irish Army Ranger Wing in combat with what he regarded as an inferior weapon. * '''Expert Tactician: '''Though unarmed and in a slightly drunken state, Rook has been shown to be able to incapacitate multiple armed opponents at a time, making use of his environment and circumstances in an opportunistic way. * '''Enhanced Resilience: '''Thanks to his metahuman genetics, Barnes is able to tolerate alcohol and other toxins to an almost indefinite degree without bodily damage as well as show an incredibly high pain tolerance.